Monitor: The Story of the Legendary Civil War Ironclad and the Man Whose Invention Changed the Course of History
James Tertius deKay. New York: Walker and Company, 1997. 247 pp. Bib. Illus. Ind. $21.00 ($18.90).
Reviewed by Chester G. Hearn
By the author’s own admission, Monitor is not written as a scholarly study but rather as a popular history to be enjoyed by readers of different ages having diverse interests in life. The book is well re- searched but not annotated, and it is filled with quotes from letters, diaries, memoirs, and reports of men of the times who participated in designing, building, funding, and fighting the first U.S. ironclad against the equally famous CSS Virginia. A chapter bibliography is provided for readers who wish to expand their study of the subject.
James T. deKay traces the evolution of the Monitor from the early design concepts of John Ericsson, a Swedish inventor who became interested in marine engineering and ordnance and emigrated to the United States. Ericsson envisioned an iron-clad rotating gun turret mounted atop a much larger supporting hull containing underwater tubes for firing torpedoes. At the beginning of the Civil War, such a radical departure from prewar naval technology drew a scoffing response from senior officers and the Navy Department’s engineers. Only the capture of the Norfolk Navy Yard by Virginia militia and efforts by the Confederates to convert the captured remains of the USS Merrimack into an impregnable ironclad induced Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles to consider a vessel of comparable strength. Welles risked his reputation by issuing a contract for the yet- unnamed prototype but covered his bet by demanding that the vessel also carry masts, rigging, and sails—a bizarre contractual condition Ericsson ignored. The author is somewhat harsh on Welles, who was not the bumbling figure he portrays. The secretary had the foresight to delete from Ericsson’s contract torpedo tubes and other novel features because he recognized them as untested devices likely to delay the urgent completion of the vessel.
In addition to the Monitor, deKay also traces Confederate efforts to raise the sunken USS Merrimack, salvage the engines, restructure the vessel, and create the formidable ironclad ram CSS Virginia. This capsulated history provides a fascinating backdrop to Confederate Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory’s strategy to produce a flotilla of similar ironclads to defend the rivers and harbors of the South.
The story is entertaining and moves quickly through the pages. The action scenes are well-written, with small problems at times with syntax and passive verbs. One chapter on aerial reconnaissance, though interesting, could have been omitted because it is not thematic. Scholars would not all agree with some of the conclusions drawn by the author, but this does not detract from a very interesting account of one of the most historic moments during the Civil War.
Jane’s Battleships of the 20th Century
Bernard Ireland. New York: HarperCollins, 1996. 191 op. Photos. Drawings. $30.00 ($27.00).
Reviewed by Norman Polmar
This is a pleasant book that describes— in photos, drawings, text, and data—the battleships and battle cruisers of the 20th Century. While the name Jane’s has become linked to large-page, overly expensive reference books, this volume is 9-by- 10 inches, published on slick paper, and available at a reasonable price.
The text provides a good overview of each battleship class, the rationale for the design, its key features, innovations and short-comings, and the fate of these ships. The author includes the U.S. large cruisers of the Alaska (CB-1) class and the Soviet nuclear-propelled cruisers of the Kirov class. To do so was a correct decision, although some purists may object.
The most striking aspect of the book is the battleship drawings by Tony Gibbons. These present overhead, profile, and bow aspects of most of the ships described. The drawings are in color, detailed, and precisely executed.
All are interesting; among the most unusual are the several hybrid proposals— never realized—for combination aircraft carrier-battleships, from a late 1930s British concept to the proposal of the Rea- gan-Lehman era to rebuild the U.S. ships of the Iowa (BB-61) class, replacing their after triple 16-inch gun turret with a flight deck for Harrier aircraft. The unique hermaphrodite battleship-carriers of the Japanese Ise-class also are illustrated. Other hybrids pictured in this book include the never-built Lexington (CC-1), a battle cruiser converted during construction to an aircraft carrier (CV-2), and the Montana (BB-67), an enlarged Iowa-class armed with 12 16-inch guns.
The drawings complement approximately 250 battleship photographs, some of which are “old friends,” but many that are new to this reviewer.
But the photos also represent the book’s major shortcoming. Why provide readers with photos of Japanese carriers burning at Midway, the British carrier Victoria in the Pacific in World War II, amphibious landings, U.S. and Japanese heavy cruisers, a U.S. destroyer, and F-117 stealth and A-6 Intruder attack aircraft? While the ships and aircraft are germane to the discussion, they do not warrant illustrations. These photos are distracting and take up space that could have been used better to illustrate battleships, and provide more closeups of their weapons and sensors. Conspicuously missing from the several “battleship men” described and illustrated in the book is Admiral Sir John Fisher.
Also, while the book’s contents pages list every ship/class described, an index to include non-battleship ships as well as people and battles that are mentioned would have been useful. The naval historian and architect will want more detailed accounts of battleship development and operations, of which several exist, including the Naval Institute Press’s excellent books by William H. Garzke, Jr., and Robert O. Dulin. As a single-volume survey of battleships, however, this is a superb volume.
Book List
The U.S. Navy: A History
Nathan Miller. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1997. 324 pp. Notes. $22.95. ($18.36).
The Sea Voyage Narrative
Robert Foulke. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1997. 269 pp. Bib. Ind. Photos. Notes. $29.95 ($28.45).
The Captain’s A Woman: Tales of a Merchant Mariner
Capt. Deborah Dempsey, USMM, & Joanne Foster. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 1998. 269 pp. Photos. Gloss. $29.95 ($23.96).
Land of the Ascending Dragon: Rediscovering Vietnam
Steve Rayner and Paul Martin. Norwalk, CT: Gates and Bridges, 1997. 192 pp. Photos. Maps. Bib. Ind. $32.00 ($28.80).
